


Light

by edriss



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: Female Friendship, Gen, just teens being teens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:53:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29771631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edriss/pseuds/edriss
Summary: It was a rare night that they had free time, the kind of free time most teenagers take for granted.
Kudos: 6





	Light

**Author's Note:**

> written for the prompt "yellow"

It was a rare night that they had free time, the kind of free time most teenagers take for granted. If they weren't almost dying, they were catching up on homework and papers in a futile attempt to keep their grades up. Cassie had all but given up on earning As like she did in previous years. Now her goal was to pass above the D mark. She knew her education would be valuable after the war but it was hard to keep up when she had countless sleepless nights and near death experiences. Still, it took a lot for Rachel to pull her away from the computer screen and the 5-page essay on _Macbeth_. Double, double toil and trouble.

Surprisingly they walked, crunching over leaves. Rachel skipped in sandals, while Cassie followed in her sensible sneakers. Arbitrarily, Rachel picked a spot with few trees and laid down in the night wet grass. Cassie followed suit and felt the wetness through her jeans and on her ears. Rachel's golden hair was spread out behind her, marking a bright yellow bolt through the clearing. She would sparkle if it were possible.

"Feel alive, Cassie?" she asked after a prolonged silence. "Ever just look at the stars like this and feel alive?" Cassie just turned her head and looked. Her friend hadn't turned her head so Cassie just stared at Rachel's white cheek. It was rosy at the top of her cheek bone and Cassie smiled because Rachel looked so genuinely happy staring at the blank sky.

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"We were chosen for Great Things. Not just us, you and me," Rachel finally turned her head and looked Cassie in the eye. "I mean all of us, Jake and Marco and Tobias and Ax. Not just the Animorphs though." She looked back up and raised her arms toward the sky. "I mean Earth. This whole planet is a battlefield. And we're making history. Some day people will fall asleep in history class to stories of the Almighty Animorphs. Stupid teenagers risking their lives for all of humanity. The bravest kids in the universe. We'll be _epic_."

"I didn't think you were in it for the glory, Rach," Cassie said, laughing slightly and also looking at the stars.

"Not the glory, just the feeling that we are doing something important. That I'm _important_ , you know?"

They were silent for a long time until Rachel started again, this time quieter.

"Imagine if we never found him. Just, what would our lives be like? Shopping and boys? Gymnastics and animals? Just ordinary stuff that doesn't matter? I knew my whole life I was important and not just cause my daddy told me. I knew I was important, Cassie. And when I look up at the stars, I remember."

Her hair was covered in dew and grass but shone through the night, a streak of yellow in such a dark place, just like Rachel.


End file.
